Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Burmese House, Richmond by Big Fil

I must admit, prior to visiting Burmese House I knew nothing about Burmese food. After one visit it's probably fair to say I now know next to nothing. One thing I have learnt is that I like the food at Burmese House.

I hardly ever get to Bridge Road. I'm not someone who considers shopping a recreational activity and it's not really convenient to where I live. Every time I do get there though I'm impressed at the variety of places to eat. This includes some well known places such as Maedaya and Richmond Hill Café & Larder, but also a swag of good, lesser known eateries.

Burmese House is located just near the Richmond Town Hall. From the outside it's not much to look at, just another glass fronted restaurant but with a big red teapot out the front. Inside is nicely set up with red brick walls and brown tables and chairs. Downstairs you can sit near the kitchen, watching the staff prepare your food. While upstairs is supposed to be nicer, we didn't get the chance to sneak up for a look.

The food we tried bore some similarities to other south-east Asian food. For example, Ms Counting her Calories went for the Mergui Noodle, stir fried rice noodles with chicken, prawn, mussels and squid. She said the flavour reminded her somewhat of Pad Thai but without the same sweetness. Ms Counting her Calories also likes her dishes on the spicy side, so of the four options (mild, medium, hot and very hot) decided to have it hot. While she thought it could have used a bit more chilli I thought it was about right. A generously sized serve of a tasty dish.

Ms L on the other hand is not into spicy food at all. Her choice of meal was the grilled chicken salad, which we all thought was the dish of the night. Like all our dishes the serving size was generous. The chicken was nicely moist and the accompanying dressing was a little bit sour, a little bit tart, but very clean and refreshing.

My own choice was the Rachine sliced fillet of fish curry, cooked with green chilli and lemon juice. The colour of the soup base and its sourness reminded me a bit of the soup used in assam laksa, although Ms Counting her Calories didn't agree. The fish used was firm with several large pieces in the soup, which while rendering the dish less than delicate helped it to hold its shape and not fall apart within the soup. Again, a tasty, generously sized dish.

Overall
An interesting experience with variations of familiar flavours. I'd like to return in a larger group to sample more of their menu, including some of the appetisers.